Gibson LP-12 anyone??

[Grog]

This listing is the first complete amp I have seen in quite a while other than the one they've been trying to sell for years at $2,000.00. Still less than it sold for in 1969!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-LP-1-Vintage-Guitar-Amp-/162427574817?hash=item25d1701a21:g:SRcAAOSw32lYxF4r

[slinkp]

Now that is an odd duck for sure.

What is the crossover for? Are there two power amps?

[Grog]

The crossover alters the amps tone a bit.  The head is a pre-amp & the bottom has a power amp in the bottom. If you are man enough to haul them & rich enough to buy them, you can gang ten speakers together................

[Chris P.]

Am I the only one thinking of this when I read LP12?

[66Atlas]

That cabinet is just crazy.  I have to wonder what those horns sound like but I cant picture it being good 

[Granny Gremlin]

Around the time this came out, Garnet was the OEM for some of their other amps (some of the less desirable of the Lab series IIRC).  Garnet is the only other instrument amp maker I know of to use horns in their cabs.  Usually it was their PA cabs, but also a few guitar units.  Perhaps there was some cross-polination here.

[Dave W]

I don't know which Gibson Lab series were made by Garnet, only that some of the were pretty well regarded. Ty Tabor and B.B. King were Lab users at one time.

[Rob]

Am I the only one thinking of this when I read LP12?

Umm Nope!

[Grog]

I was under the impression that the amp was built at the Standel factory. Gibson quit amp production around this time at Kalamazoo. CMI had purchased the holdings of the Standel Co. A book of mine states that the "G" Series amps were built there, but no mention of the "Batwing models or the LP-12.

[slinkp]

Around the time this came out, Garnet was the OEM for some of their other amps (some of the less desirable of the Lab series IIRC).  Garnet is the only other instrument amp maker I know of to use horns in their cabs.  Usually it was their PA cabs, but also a few guitar units.  Perhaps there was some cross-polination here.

The other that comes to mind is the Vox cabinets for the (UK) AC50 and AC100 and the (USA, transistor) Super Beatle amps.
They had a 2x12 with one horn and a 4x12 with two horns.

http://www.voxshowroom.com/us/amp/v4141.html

[amptech]

I was under the impression that the amp was built at the Standel factory. Gibson quit amp production around this time at Kalamazoo. CMI had purchased the holdings of the Standel Co. A book of mine states that the "G" Series amps were built there, but no mention of the "Batwing models or the LP-12.

Is that the Gibson amplifiers 1933 - 2008 book you are referring to? I see that in that book it says the 'G series' ans 'SG systems' were made at the Standel factory, but regarding the Lab series no Production site is mentioned - only that it was made by the Moog team.

[Grog]

Is that the Gibson amplifiers 1933 - 2008 book you are referring to? I see that in that book it says the 'G series' ans 'SG systems' were made at the Standel factory, but regarding the Lab series no Production site is mentioned - only that it was made by the Moog team.

Yes it is............... The LP-12 amp in the section of colored photos is my amp. The previous owner submitted it to the author. He was a collector of Kustom Amps. This one was sort of an odd duck in his collection. Going by the date of this photo, I've had it almost ten years.



Here is a photo I had on file showing the horns.

[Granny Gremlin]

I don't know which Gibson Lab series were made by Garnet, only that some of the were pretty well regarded. Ty Tabor and B.B. King were Lab users at one time.

It was some models (don't recall exactly which) in the Lab Series 2 (the well regarded ones are the Moog-designed original Lab Series - mostly the L5 and 7 - same amp, but 2x12 vs 4x10).

You can tell it's a Garnet (despite the branding on the front) if it has a sticker like this ont he rear of the chassis (minus the Garnet logo except on models branded as Garnets):

I was under the impression that the amp was built at the Standel factory. Gibson quit amp production around this time at Kalamazoo. CMI had purchased the holdings of the Standel Co. A book of mine states that the "G" Series amps were built there, but no mention of the "Batwing models or the LP-12.

Yes, that's what I thought too and it would make sense - the SS preamp head with the power amp in the speaker cab was a Standel sort of thing to do.

[Dave W]

The only ones I remember seeing in person were several at a local store, NOS some years after they were made. I can't remember what the label said, but they definitely weren't from Kalamazoo.

[slinkp]

So what's it sound like?